2,979 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Acquired by Vermillion Wealth Management Inc.

Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,979 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 244.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.5%

Southern stock traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $89.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,418,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,488,731. The company has a market capitalization of $98.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $76.87 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $89.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.23.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.21.

About Southern

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.